Special Olympics

Maryland - birthplace of the Special Olympics - is on its way to becoming the first state to open a major training facility for disabled athletes that will include an Olympic-size pool, sports training center, track and ball fields. The $20 million sports complex, planned for completion in 2005, will be built in East Park in northern Anne Arundel County, a site chosen for its proximity to Interstate 97. Special Olympics officials said they want the training center to be convenient to the state's 10,000 athletes, coaches and volunteers.

Culminating a year of fund-raising efforts, law enforcement officers will take up the final leg of a torch run tomorrow evening to help open the Maryland Special Olympics Summer Games at the University of Maryland's College Park campus.The annual Law Enforcement Torch Run -- first held in Wichita, Kan., and emulated in other states -- has raised about $750,000 in Maryland since it was begun here in 1986 to support and promote the Special Olympics.The Torch Run begins with events at the city and county level, where participating police and correctional officers compete in races -- and pay $15 for a Torch Run T-shirt, accounting for much of the money raised.

When Scott Glowacki finishes his workday at Baltimore Window Factory, he usually heads straight to a nearby health club and into the pool. He loves to swim, especially competitively. And he has the pins, plaques and medals to prove it. Glowacki, 43, will be going for more medals this weekend when he returns to race in the state Special Olympics at Towson University. He and his sister, also a swimmer, have been competing at the event off and on for nearly three decades. Athletes are limited to one sport per Olympics, and Scott and Karen chose swimming for the state games.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Frank Kolarek knows what it feels like to be told you are not good enough.The Baltimore native spent five years playing minor-league baseball, but never made the big show.Maybe that's why Kolarek is at the Special Olympics World Games this week helping athletes compete for the gold medal in softball.Kolarek, 42, was told he never would make the big leagues, yet he's managed to make a living around the baseball diamond. As a full-time director for the Maryland Special Olympics, Kolarek helps others enjoy the game he loves.

As 1st Sgt. Lawrence E. Fairies was ready to present yet another ribbon to Mount Airy Middle School student Bruce Watt, the state troopersmiled and said, "Are you back again?"Yes, Watt was back again, and he'll be busy with Special Olympics for the months ahead. He's headed to Minnesota this summer to take part in the International Equestrian Special Olympics.Watt was just one of about 120 developmentally disabled athletes from across the county taking part in the twice-delayed Carroll County Special Olympics Thursday at Westminster High.

In support of the Special Olympics Maryland Summer Games to be held tomorrow night through Sunday at the University of Maryland, College Park, state and local law enforcement officers will run a torch relay through Carroll County tomorrow morning. Starting about 9 a.m. on Route 26 at the Frederick County line, members of the Westminster barracks of the Maryland State Police and Carroll County Sheriff's Office and the Westminster Police Department will carry the Special Olympics torch east to Route 27 and north to city police headquarters in Westminster, said 1st Sgt. Dean Richardson, a police spokesman for the event.

If you have information on community events in Ellicott City/Elkridge, call Fay Lande at 410-715-2811. The Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department recently went swimming in 28-degree weather at Sandy State Park, near the Bay Bridge, to raise money for Special Olympics Maryland. "It actually wasn't too bad," said firefighter Mike Barnett, who lives in Elkridge. "The wind wasn't blowing too bad, and the sun was out. But then again, it was 30 degrees." The Elkridge contingent, which included youngsters and parents from the Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department Junior Firefighter Program, raised $5,548.

With the crack of a gun, the athletes were off, charging down the track with one thing in mind: finishing. More than 20 groups of athletes - 227 participants - competed for the gold, silver and bronze in the Carroll County Special Olympics held yesterday at Westminster High School. The county's 31st summer games began with the Westminster High School Owls marching band leading the athletes around the track. The athletes were from Carroll elementary, middle and high schools, Carroll Community College and Therapeutic Recreation Council - a county program that provides activities for the physically, mentally and emotionally disabled.

Mark Patterson, manager of a Pasadena Radio Shack store, posed a simple question to a handful of his friends: "How much would you pay me to go jump in the river?"It wasn't a river, and Patterson didn't get any money -- at least not for himself. What he got was sponsors to contribute to Maryland's Special Olympics before he and about 800 others raced down the beach at Sandy Point State Park yesterday to leap into the cold Chesapeake Bay waters.They raised about $100,000."I have plenty of handicapped friends, so this kind of means something to me," Patterson said of the second Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge.